Game Preview #52: San Antonio Spurs @ Indiana Pacers

by CapHill on Feb 17, 2010 3:00 AM CST in Game Previews

Bare bones preview tonight after the jump.

San Antonio Spurs @ Indiana Pacers
Where: Conseco Fieldhouse - Indianopolis, IN
When: February 17, 2010; 6:00 PM Spurs time
Watch: FSNSW (SA), FSI (Indy)

How They Stack Up


19-10	Home	12-14
11-11	Road	6-20
100.9	Offense	99.1
96.2	Defense	104.1
47.4	FG%	43.7
37.1	3-pt%	33.1
73.8	FT%	77.6
42.3	Rebounds	42.2
13.2	TOs	14.9
5-5	Last 10	4-6
Won 1	Streak	Lost 2
2nd, Southwest	Position	5th,Central


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	9:00 PM
West Coast	4:00 PM
Philippines	8:00 AM
Central Europe	1:00 AM
Palestine/Egypt	2:00 AM
East Coast	7:00 PM
Snow Zone	5:00 PM
Perth, AUS	8:00 AM
Tokyo, JP	10:00 AM
Sydney, AUS	10:00 AM

Spurs (30-21)	Matchups	Pacers (18-34)
Tony Parker Frenchy	Point Guard Watson and T.J. Ford have been splitting time at the PG position, with Watson getting more minutes. I think we can all agree that Tony hasn't been totally healthy - hopefully, the week long break has helped the Wee Frenchman heal a little. Parker is still better than Watson and Ford combined. Also, Tony needs to dominate Fisher. Advantage: Spurs	Earl Watson PG

George Hill Ninja Bot	Shooting Guard Both of these guys were selected in the first round of the 2008 Draft - Rush 13th, George 26th. These two guys play similar minutes with some similar stats, but George has been pouring it on lately since being inserted into the starting lineup. Also, Hill is a better defender (but I'm basing that on what I remember of Rush at Kansas). The lean goes to Cubits. Advantage: Spurs	Brandon Rush SG

Richard Jefferson RJ	Small Forward Maybe the Nuggets game will be a turning point in the season for Jefferson. I'm not quite ready to totally give up on him. I'm not sure if Granger is a true franchise player or if he's the classic good stats player on a bad team, but at this point, he's still better than RJ. Advantage: Pacers	Danny Granger SF

Tim Duncan GOAT PUFF	Power Forward This isn't even close. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Filler. Pithy random insight and cute little nickname. IBID. Id est. Etc., etc., etc. Advantage: Spurs	Troy Murphy PF

Antonio McDyess SAM	Center Hibbert is a solid young center, with the massive size that used to go along with the "center" designation. He could rebound better though. Dice is coming along and seems to rounding into 2nd half of the season shape. Hibbert gets the lean. Advantage: Pacers	Roy Hibbert C

Manu Ginobili Bella's Great Love	Bench & Role Players When the player getting the most minutes off of your bench is Jones, I really don't need to explain why BAM gets the white box. Advantage: Spurs	Dahntay Jones Bench

Gregg Popovich Pop	Coach See the power forward position. Transfer words here. Advantage: Spurs	Jim O'Brien Coach
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
They are worse at home than the Spurs are on the road. Advantage: Spurs
Mojo
The Spurs should be riding high on the Thabeetdown of the Sophomores by Blair. Plus, the "old team" has had plenty of rest. Advantage: Spurs
Winner:
Let's continue the momentum from the Denver game.

Keys To The Game

Contest Shots - The Pacers don't shoot particularly well. The Spurs need to have sharp defensive rotations and make the Indiana shooters work hard for their shots.
Make Shots - The Spurs finally broke out of their 3-point slump. They need to continue the good ball movement and spacing on the offensive end and make the resultant open shots.

Strength of Schedule

Both teams have had a week of rest, due to the All-Star Game. The Spurs are coming off that amazine win against Denver, and play at Philly on Friday. The Pacers are coming off of a loss to the Bulls and head to New Orleans on Friday.

Last Time They Met

The last game between these two teams resulted in a nail-biting 100-99 win for the Spurs on December 19th in San Antonio. We had six players in double figures and had a 30-16 4th quarter to come from behind and pull out the victory.

Some Other Reading

Pacers

Indy Cornrows - The SBNation blog for Indiana.
Eight Points, Nine Seconds - The True Hoop blog for the Pacers.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: The best TrueHoop team blog is now even better. A must read.
Project Spurs: Check out their regular podcasts. I think they love Manu as much as we do, if that's possible.

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be aired on Fox Sports Net SW in San Antonio and on FSI in Indianapolis. If you have cable or satellite, you'll have to look up your individual channel. And of course, there's always League Pass for the haves. For the have nots, read on.

Online

As always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Most Spurs games will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to poundingtherock@yahoo.com for more assistance.

NBA League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).

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Comments

I kind of feel sorry for RJ, Mase and Dice. Playing this game not knowing if this is your last time putting on a Spurs jersey. That can’t be a good feeling.

by GhosTown on Feb 17, 2010 3:43 AM CST reply actions

Let’s hope they all have monster games, to make us think we don’t need to trade any of them.

by Bakkie009 on Feb 17, 2010 6:09 AM CST up reply actions

We ~~should~~ must win this one.

If you liked it then you should have put a 5th ring on it. Oh oh oh.

by TDzilla! on Feb 17, 2010 4:06 AM CST reply actions

Ditto. I’m tired of the emotional roller coaster this season has been. The Spurs need to start winning. I also can’t wait for the trade deadline to pass.

by Spurlady on Feb 17, 2010 7:41 AM CST up reply actions

Indiana has a losing record – this should be a lock

"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html

by Joe deLarios on Feb 17, 2010 11:12 AM CST up reply actions

Tsk, Tsk, Artis. Have you learned nothing from the incredibly superstitious bunch that is PtR?

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed. - CMoney

by bellasa on Feb 17, 2010 11:40 AM CST up reply actions

It’s okay in the previews, but no comments like this are allowed in the game threads. It’s a fine line.

by CapHill on Feb 17, 2010 1:57 PM CST up reply actions

lucky for you all I should be there to ruin the mojo anyway jk. We’re a great 17-6 when I’m in the game threads

Evey- "Are you a crazy person?"
V- "I'm quite sure they'll say so."
V for Vendetta, blowing your mind away since 2005.

by KA1Z3R on Feb 17, 2010 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

RJ is gonna have a breakout game.

just having fun...

by day_late_friend on Feb 17, 2010 4:53 AM CST reply actions

well, I’m tired of watching him crawl through the sewage pipe….

by BlaseE on Feb 17, 2010 8:12 AM CST up reply actions

I hope, that can help his trade value

"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobli

by spursfan87 on Feb 17, 2010 3:21 PM CST up reply actions

On the road for this one. I hope our guys show up from here on out.

Since I have been too negligent to activate online league pass, doubtful for game threads for the next few days.

by LionZion on Feb 17, 2010 11:34 AM CST reply actions

that is what the internet is for, im not advocating that you steal the hell out of this game, but then again, im not not advocating it either

by jakob_taylor on Feb 17, 2010 2:37 PM CST up reply actions

I hate early games. This thing’s going to be over before get home tonight. Oh well, I’ll just catch the replay on LPBB.

Don't compare RJ to Sean unless he's coming up clutch while playing with a failing kidney.

by Tim C. on Feb 17, 2010 11:52 AM CST reply actions

I just got FSW-SA, I’m stoked, but will, of course, miss part of the game as well.

by Big50 on Feb 17, 2010 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

I love early games… It means I dont have to go to bed at after midnight.

"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG

by LasEspuelas on Feb 17, 2010 1:55 PM CST up reply actions

yea the wifey didn’t like the late games.

by JaySo on Feb 17, 2010 2:07 PM CST up reply actions

some schedule stuff

We are currently at 21 losses tied with Dallas and OKC. Denver is at 18 and Utah is at 19 above us. Below us, we have Phoenix at 22, Portland at 24, New Orleans and Houston at 25, and Memphis at 26. The LA teams are your boundaries. The Clippers are at 32 losses and are clearly the line of “unable to get hot enough to do anything”. Unless the Lakers have a serious melt down, their 13 losses are enough of a lead to secure the number one seed. As tough as it may be, all Lakers wins against the other teams help the Spurs to some extent. I’ll still be happy to see them lose games, but that’s where we stand.

Now, on to the future….

We are about to play 3 games we are heavily favored in until Wednesday February 24th when we play OKC in SA. None of them are SEGABABA’s either. In that period of time (and I’m not counting yesterday which had a Dallas OKC game that very helpful):

17: Jazz @ Hornets, Suns @ Mavs (segababa for mavs)
18: Nuggets @ Cavs, Celtics @ Lakers
19: Mavs @ Magic, Hawks @ Suns, Celtics @ Blazers (also Heat @ Grizzlies if you want to count it)
20: Heat @ Mavs (SEGABABA for both)
21: Cavs @ Magic, Celtics @ Nuggets, Rockets @ Hornets, Jazz @ Blazers
22: Hawks @ Jazz
23: Suns @ Thunder, Lakers @ Grizzlies, Hornets @ Cavs
24: Blazers @ Raptors, Magic @ Rockets, Lakers @ Mavericks, Bobcats @ Jazz

I didn’t even list games that would be huge upsets against teams like (cough cough) the Pacers, Kings or the Sixers. My point is, if we aren’t looking down on more teams in the standings on Thursday morning, then we suck. Honestly, there is no excuse with Dallas transitioning their new lineup to not be first in the division and 3 or 4 in the conference (in terms of losses) next week. All extra mojo left over from Spurs beatdowns should be used against the Nuggets and the Jazz. Utah and Nuggets are done playing. Utah is actually done playing us and the Mavs as well so they could cause some trouble.

by BlaseE on Feb 17, 2010 2:32 PM CST reply actions

Great work, Blase, but a little too much info for me to take in at once

::eyes glazing over::

by CapHill on Feb 17, 2010 2:51 PM CST up reply actions

don’t worry about the numbers or even the specific matchups…just get the gist that we are playing easy games while others have really tough games and in some cases play each other (someone has to lose)

by BlaseE on Feb 17, 2010 2:57 PM CST up reply actions

its worth noting that after our 3 games against crappy east teams we then play:

6 games against teams that could make the playoffs in the west with 2 SEGABABA’s followed by our @ Cleveland….ouch….

by BlaseE on Feb 17, 2010 3:00 PM CST up reply actions

As tough as it may be, all Lakers wins against the other teams help the Spurs to some extent.

Damn, that’s brutal! I want to win. . . and yet. . .

The Lakers "Too big, too strong, too long, too good."

by olf on Feb 17, 2010 4:11 PM CST up reply actions

well, if you wanted to root against the Spurs and the Lakers, key games are 2 more against Denver and 1 against Utah, Phoenix, OKC, Portland and Dallas…those 7 games

by BlaseE on Feb 17, 2010 4:15 PM CST up reply actions

OK, thanks. I’ll give that some thought.

(Man you’re fast with this stuff. :)

The Lakers "Too big, too strong, too long, too good."

by olf on Feb 17, 2010 4:19 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah he is, isn’t he? It’s pretty scary, to be honest.

Great work, Blase.

The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones

by J.R. Wilco on Feb 18, 2010 9:12 AM CST up reply actions

im not malicious like a troll…im like the homeless guy on the other bank under the bridge just looking for shade from the heat of my work….

by BlaseE on Feb 18, 2010 12:42 PM CST up reply actions

wow

I wasn’t expecting that image today.

Interesting.

The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones

by J.R. Wilco on Feb 18, 2010 1:07 PM CST up reply actions

wow?

not expecting the image of a homeless guy across from a troll or me as a homeless guy?

anyone seen Stella where they are homeless and cut a single bean into portions because there are three of them?

by BlaseE on Feb 18, 2010 2:38 PM CST up reply actions

You as a homeless guy under a bridge across from a troll.

Just an interesting choice of metaphors.

The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones

by J.R. Wilco on Feb 18, 2010 3:10 PM CST up reply actions

because internet trolls lurk and wait for people to post something just so they can blast them….i wait around here to provide some info….mostly bored and wishing i was drunk…..like a homeless person

by BlaseE on Feb 18, 2010 3:50 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs